TMC is an independent, primarily volunteer organization that relies on ad revenue to cover its operating costs. Please consider whitelisting TMC on your ad blocker and becoming a Supporting Member. For more info: Support TMC

I’ve benefitted from reading hours worth of content in TMC and wanted to contribute back to the community. This is my first real post and wanted to share some the lessons I’ve learned about taking delivery of an inventory Model S.

For better or worse, I’m a a very detail oriented guy and the small things tend to catch my eye. Hope this can be helpful to those of you who have found killer discounts on inventory vehicles.

1. Carefully read the Demo Condition Notification. Make sure you understand what kind of damage Tesla determines to be “minor cosmetic imperfections” vs “major.” Minor imperfections are factored into the discounted price, whereas with major imperfections, Tesla will make a fix. This document should be presented to you before you buy the car and you sign it when reserving the vehicle. This document is not given to you at delivery.

2. Pay close attention to the warranty definition in the Demo Condition Notification. My owner advisor presented me with one copy and the delivery team provided me with an alternative version. In the first copy, my 4 year/50k mile warranty was _incremental_ to the existing mileage on the car. In the copy the delivery team provided me, the warranty began at 0 miles, which meant I effectively had a <50k mile warranty. Tesla honored the first version that I had been presented.

3. Determining what is “minor” damage to the car can be tricky. If your DS insists you have bought the car “as-is” and you feel the damage warrants repair by Tesla, ping your Owner Advisor for how to proceed. I showed the damage to my Owner Advisor and the local service team for their opinion on whether or not it was major/minor (they agreed with me). My OA was wiling to help me navigate through the organization.

4. Don’t feel compelled to rush through your delivery experience. Be firm in asking for more time to inspect the car and inspect it under different lighting conditions. The day I took delivery, I had only a few minutes to inspect before my DS went to the next customer and did not notice a 3” dent in the rear bumper until I had left (dang pearl white). There were several awkward moments when I pointed out damage to my DS, who had to ask her manager multiple times on procedure. In retrospect, I should have spent a lot longer during delivery and had the DS make extra time for me. The delivery teams may not be as familiar with inventory car protocol, so it can be helpful to have a second opinion from someone higher up in the organization. If you feel like the DS’s opinion and your opinion are orthogonal, ask for the Regional Delivery Manager’s contact information or ping your Owner Advisor for help.

5. Pick and choose your battles. I understand an inventory car should come with normal wear and tear like minor scratches on paint/chrome, rock chips, and small scuffs in the leather. Those come with the territory and you should probably only push on the issues that really mean a lot to you. My Delivery Experience Specialist bluntly told me to either accept the damage to my bumper or to return the car. Neither option sounded ideal, so I remained tenacious and escalated upwards in the organization. See last few paragraphs for more details.

6. Check these areas before you leave. Here are some spots where folks might not think about looking for damage: scratches on the door handles once they present, frunk crease above the emblem, the underside of the frank, mobile charging connector (I tested mine on the spot too), all upholstery in the footwells (I had a large tear in one of the passenger foot wells), rubber seals around all the doors, headliner smudges (especially on the sun visors), the seams where the headliner and rubber seals meet (a 5” portion of my headliner had popped out), and tire tread depth (particularly rear tires on the inside).​

Tesla ultimately agreed to repair the dent in my bumper, but only after I escalated the issue. Once I reached the right level, I was impressed by the swiftness of the resolution and the sincerity of the Tesla team in resolving my concerns. At first I felt a bit bad about doing this, but as a shareholder, I felt providing constructive feedback would help Tesla improve. I’ll post updates up here if there is interest.

Bottom line, I chalk this up as an outlier experience. Tesla is an amazing company that holds itself to a very high standard and is experiencing some teething. I’m convinced Tesla strives to re-define the auto buying process and goes above and beyond to make sure its customers are satisfied. I’ve experienced that myself first hand now within the first week of ownership.

This is my first post. Just took delivery of an inventory car and it was my best car buying experience, ever. I inspected it closely, saw it had been run up against a parking block slightly, replaced without ever a whimper prior to delivery. Car was delivered in flawless condition, clay bar, etc.

I had been looking at used cars because I had a tough time with spending so much on a car. After spending months poring over the ads, I started visiting the Tesla store in Pasadena and got a list of available inventory cars. Ended up realizing I wanted the tech autopilot features And the used market fell away. With tax incentive unavailable to purchaser of a used vehicle, it had better be a screaming deal for a used car purchase with less warranty, etc. to make any kind of sense. Got my car for 14,000 below list with 3300 miles and i get the tax incentives and warranty as it is considered a new car. 2500/deposit could have been lost if I flaked and did not like the car but everyone was very above board.

This is my first post. Just took delivery of an inventory car and it was my best car buying experience, ever. I inspected it closely, saw it had been run up against a parking block slightly, replaced without ever a whimper prior to delivery. Car was delivered in flawless condition, clay bar, etc.

I had been looking at used cars because I had a tough time with spending so much on a car. After spending months poring over the ads, I started visiting the Tesla store in Pasadena and got a list of available inventory cars. Ended up realizing I wanted the tech autopilot features And the used market fell away. With tax incentive unavailable to purchaser of a used vehicle, it had better be a screaming deal for a used car purchase with less warranty, etc. to make any kind of sense. Got my car for 14,000 below list with 3300 miles and i get the tax incentives and warranty as it is considered a new car. 2500/deposit could have been lost if I flaked and did not like the car but everyone was very above board.

You're lucky to have seen the car in person before delivery. I was not allowed to see mine until delivery. Regardless, you got a great deal and the build seems really amazing. I too picked up a P85 with autopilot. They told me when I picked it up they estimated around 100 P85s were built and mine was #86. Do you have the Tesla perma-grin?

Cyclone, feel free to hit me up if you have any questions! Happy to provide any perspective since I know what it's like to be in your shoes.

You're lucky to have seen the car in person before delivery. I was not allowed to see mine until delivery. Regardless, you got a great deal and the build seems really amazing. I too picked up a P85 with autopilot. They told me when I picked it up they estimated around 100 P85s were built and mine was #86. Do you have the Tesla perma-grin?

Click to expand...

Beltown: It may have something to do with where you live and where the care is coming from. I am in L.A., and the car was in service in Torrance, CA, so it was not a big deal for them to flatbed it to Van Nuys where I inspected it. I had already signed all of the paperwork, and would have forfeited the $2500 if I flaked. Maybe it would be different if the car had been shipped from further away.

Perma Grin indeed. I suspected it was rare, but did not realize the production numbers were that low for non-D P85 with autopilot. Fun fact.

Build is exactly to my liking and budget, and knowing what I know, I probably would have built it exactly this way if I were configuring it, which is a stroke of luck, or perhaps a bit of post hoc rationalization. Happy camper here.

The car was a loaner based in Fremont and I live in San Francisco, but was told it was constantly in use by clients. I don't think they were misleading me as I could see the reported mileage on the car consistently going up a few hundred miles each week. What I probably should have proposed was to put down the $2.5k deposit, then request to see the car before proceeding further.

@Albiwan: Did you say your front bumper looked like it had been scratched and your DS replaced it without any complaints? I love the new dark gray and if I didn't go with Pearl White, it would have been Dark Gray.

Belltown: It was not the bumper; it was the plastic skid plate underneath. I did a thorough inspection and looked under the car and saw it had run up against a high parking block. I told the service manager, "no big deal; I'm sure I'd do the same in a few thousand miles." He said, "well, you want to be the one who does it, not someone else." So, they replaced it and the car came to me pristine. I tore the heck out of three or four of those things in my last car, a BMW, and hopefully I've learned my lesson and will engage air suspension to avoid such mishaps in the future.

The new gray has a lot of flecks of metallic blue in it; really pops in the sunlight. All the Tesla colors are good; (including discontinued brown and green) you really can't go wrong, and Pearl White is an excellent choice as well.

@Albiwan: Did you say your front bumper looked like it had been scratched and your DS replaced it without any complaints? I love the new dark gray and if I didn't go with Pearl White, it would have been Dark Gray.

Click to expand...

And of course I'm at the same spot w.r.t. colors - dark gray or pearl white. The hard part for me is the local service center and showroom has not yet officially opened. As such, the logistics have been difficult as another store would have arrange everything and then I travel to the store with the car or the closest store to me that's officially open. So far, I've told myself that all will work out because the inventory car I found was a perfect setup except had the standard headliner and I want black (to go with my gray seats). Otherwise, it looked great and had a $10k discount on it.

Thanks for the post belltown. The way I'm looking at it, if I'm spending $80k or $90k on a car, I am going to get EXACTLY what I want. I will probably consider some inventory cars, but they better match my desires pretty darn close for me to take that little bit of a discount they are offering.

If Florida waives sales tax on EVs (currently in session), then I will most certainly be getting a new one!

[1]The way I'm looking at it, if I'm spending $80k or $90k on a car, I am going to get EXACTLY what I want. I will probably consider some inventory cars, but they better match my desires pretty darn close for me to take that little bit of a discount they are offering.

[2]If Florida waives sales tax on EVs (currently in session), then I will most certainly be getting a new one!

If you find a color you like and the "shape" of the vehicle is up to snuff, an inventory vehicle immediately can be pretty compelling vs. full retail custom in a X months.

[2] Note that Tesla inventory vehicles can be either new (service loaner, showroom/demo, marketing) or used (trade-in with previous titled owner). For WA state, the former qualifies for "no sales tax". Make sure you carefully check the FL waive rules, if it comes to pass.

Thanks for the thread. I will get my P85D inventory car in a week. I have not seen it, nor have I ever driven a P85D. I am a trifle nervous about rear tire wear given 2000 miles and insane mode. I shall look carefully. I have seen no condition report, only a few photos and the options list. It is a 2014 car, so i probably save a bit more. I'm curious if anybody has noticed special P85D inventory car issues? Tire wear i expect to see, and if it is significant I'll pitch for new tires, at least the rear ones. I have no idea what will happen if I try to do that, but I'm prepared to stop this delivery and wait for a new one if it is not nearly perfect. I wonder if they'll go along if that should be the case?

I purchased an inventory car and took delivery of it last week. It's a black 85 with gray interior and light headliner, built at the end of 2014 so it has the AutoPilot hardware. Only option is the Tech package, which is the only option I really needed to have (if I spec'd out a car, I'd get an 85D with the Tech Package, Pano Roof, new seats and possibly the sound system). The car had 1700 miles on it and was sold as new. I did not see the car until I took delivery. I looked it over carefully, and the car was in excellent shape, and I didn't see a single scratch or ding in any body panels. Interior was also in great shape, in particular didn't see any damage or noticeable wear on the seats. I washed the car for the first time yesterday, so had a much better look at the car's exterior. There is a roughly 2" "scuff" on the front-right quarter panel, which can probably be removed fairly easily. And the door sill plates are scuffed up a bit, but not sure Tesla would replace those if I asked. Other than that, I think it's a great value considering the discount on the car.

The delivery experience itself was great. I had an hour and a half appointment, and even though I was already pretty familiar with the car and its features, I still ended up using that entire block. So much better than the traditional dealer experience, it's not even funny.

We also took delivery of our 2nd Tesla last Tuesday evening- I think we were the 10,030th car delivered in Q1:smile: It was a loaner car that had been in use in Costa Mesa since Dec- had 5500 miles on it and I can tell you it was as close to perfect as it could have been- Scottsdale's detailers did an amazing job, not a scuff,scrap or ding anywhere that we noticed. I am certain they did some refinishing on the 21" wheels though, since we had photographs of them with scuffs from the pre-inspection before it was shipped to Scottsdale- The car is amazing, has all the autopilot goodies that our first car is lacking, We love both though- We couldn't be happier with the whole experience. I'm not sure what the discounts will be going forward, but the 3 month old discount of nearly 13K made this car a no brainer for us.

I spent 3 weeks going over inventory cars and never came saw any P85d's at those price points.
One of the P85ds I looked at had 1400 miles, 2014 Sticker 133,470, price with discount 122,068... of the 10+ cars I went over all a similar cost.. some came down to 118K.. I never came across a low optioned P85D
The perfect cars had little to no discount, and none of the P85Ds with 2015 VINs had a discount.

Condition of the cars interiors is what turned me off, scuffs and wear on the bolsters where the norm for the cars with 1000-3000 miles.
Under no circumstances would any interior parts be replaced... wheels and and exterior damage would be fixed at no charge.
Several of the P85Ds I looked at had curbed wheels, on one car all four wheels were dorked up! Stuff like that really turned me off, god only knows what other damage could have been done.

Florida waiving sales tax on EV's is not going to happy.. Auto lobby is very strong and the state is too dependent on sales tax revenue since there is no state income tax.

If you find a color you like and the "shape" of the vehicle is up to snuff, an inventory vehicle immediately can be pretty compelling vs. full retail custom in a X months.

[2] Note that Tesla inventory vehicles can be either new (service loaner, showroom/demo, marketing) or used (trade-in with previous titled owner). For WA state, the former qualifies for "no sales tax". Make sure you carefully check the FL waive rules, if it comes to pass.

Thanks for the thread. I will get my P85D inventory car in a week. I have not seen it, nor have I ever driven a P85D. I am a trifle nervous about rear tire wear given 2000 miles and insane mode. I shall look carefully. I have seen no condition report, only a few photos and the options list. It is a 2014 car, so i probably save a bit more. I'm curious if anybody has noticed special P85D inventory car issues? Tire wear i expect to see, and if it is significant I'll pitch for new tires, at least the rear ones. I have no idea what will happen if I try to do that, but I'm prepared to stop this delivery and wait for a new one if it is not nearly perfect. I wonder if they'll go along if that should be the case?

Click to expand...

Hey Jbcarioca, as a point of reference, I asked for a $500 credit for full detail and overall reconditioning of the car and was flatly told no. The owner advisor's take was that the discount on the car accounted for the wear and tear.

For wheels, I know the cars should have at a minimum 4/32" remaining tread, otherwise they will be replaced. If you have doubts, bring a flashlight, a penny and do a quick measurement on your own at delivery. Here's a useful link to describe how to use a penny as a tire tread depth measurement device: How to Check Tire Tread Depth: The Penny Test | Bridgestone Tires

I spent 3 weeks going over inventory cars and never came saw any P85d's at those price points.
One of the P85ds I looked at had 1400 miles, 2014 Sticker 133,470, price with discount 122,068... of the 10+ cars I went over all a similar cost.. some came down to 118K.. I never came across a low optioned P85D
The perfect cars had little to no discount, and none of the P85Ds with 2015 VINs had a discount.

Condition of the cars interiors is what turned me off, scuffs and wear on the bolsters where the norm for the cars with 1000-3000 miles.
Under no circumstances would any interior parts be replaced... wheels and and exterior damage would be fixed at no charge.
Several of the P85Ds I looked at had curbed wheels, on one car all four wheels were dorked up! Stuff like that really turned me off, god only knows what other damage could have been done.

Florida waiving sales tax on EV's is not going to happy.. Auto lobby is very strong and the state is too dependent on sales tax revenue since there is no state income tax.

Click to expand...

Hello All,

Looking seriously at an inventory car. I have a deposit down on the X, but after driving the S, I don't think I can wait.

Agree that the P85D pricing is not aggressively discounted. Why would it be? What an amazing car. I was able to find a P85 w/ Auto Pilot that has my attention. 4k miles and in near perfect shape.

Thanks for the thread. I will get my P85D inventory car in a week. I have not seen it, nor have I ever driven a P85D. I am a trifle nervous about rear tire wear given 2000 miles and insane mode. I shall look carefully. I have seen no condition report, only a few photos and the options list. It is a 2014 car, so i probably save a bit more. I'm curious if anybody has noticed special P85D inventory car issues? Tire wear i expect to see, and if it is significant I'll pitch for new tires, at least the rear ones. I have no idea what will happen if I try to do that, but I'm prepared to stop this delivery and wait for a new one if it is not nearly perfect. I wonder if they'll go along if that should be the case?

Click to expand...

If you don't mind me asking what price did you pay for your inventory P85D?

I spent 3 weeks going over inventory cars and never came saw any P85d's at those price points.
One of the P85ds I looked at had 1400 miles, 2014 Sticker 133,470, price with discount 122,068... of the 10+ cars I went over all a similar cost.. some came down to 118K.. I never came across a low optioned P85D
The perfect cars had little to no discount, and none of the P85Ds with 2015 VINs had a discount.

Condition of the cars interiors is what turned me off, scuffs and wear on the bolsters where the norm for the cars with 1000-3000 miles.
Under no circumstances would any interior parts be replaced... wheels and and exterior damage would be fixed at no charge.
Several of the P85Ds I looked at had curbed wheels, on one car all four wheels were dorked up! Stuff like that really turned me off, god only knows what other damage could have been done.

Florida waiving sales tax on EV's is not going to happy.. Auto lobby is very strong and the state is too dependent on sales tax revenue since there is no state income tax.

Click to expand...

If anyone needs more data points I have seen two P85Ds in the $108K range and they both had about $13K in discounts.

Meta

Do you value your experience at TMC? Consider becoming a Supporting Member of Tesla Motors Club. As a thank you for your contribution, you'll get nearly no ads in the Community and Groups sections. Additional perks are available depending on the level of contribution. Please visit the Account Upgrades page for more details.